大象传媒

This story has been written onto the 大象传媒 People鈥檚 War site by CSV Storygatherer Robin.D.Bailey on behalf of the author Victor Donald Delves. They fully understand the terms and conditions of the site.

I was only 19 years of age when I took part in Operation 鈥淎valanche鈥�, the Salerno Invasion, which took place on 9th September 1943.

I was 5513070 Pte Victor Donald Delves (known as Donald) serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment (now the Royal Hampshire Regiment). The Hampshires had a total of 4 battalions at Salerno, part of the 46th Division attached to the American 5th Army under General Mark Clark.

We were known as the 128 (Hampshire) Brigade and had been selected as one of the three assault brigades of X Corps at Salerno. The 128 Brigade was to break through between the Rivers Picentino and Asa on about a mile front and to destroy the enemies local defences. If this could be done we would capture the hills overlooking the Salerno road. Then 138 Brigade following up over the same beach would push on and capture Salerno itself. This would open up the road to Cava and San Serverino. Well that was the plan !

At 0300 hrs that morning our first wave of landing craft moved towards the shore, we were about 4 miles off-shore with a very large convoy. As we approached the shore the vision was not good and the Moon no great advantage.

The sky began to light up as the shells rained down on our landing craft, and our ships were pounding the shore line. The gun fire was such that it could only be described as 鈥淎ll Hell Had Been Let Loose鈥�. At 0330 hrs the battalions went ashore.

As our Battalion landed, the enemy opened up and the sand was torn up around us as the beach was raked by machine gun fire, the landing craft on the second wave were being machine gunned as soon as their ramps were opened, some were burning. Our LST (Landing Ship, Tank) was blown up by a mine, the explosion blew a hole in the side of the ship, which listed badly. I was thrown under and trapped by a badly damaged anti-tank vehicle, and was unable to move.

I was lucky that I was not more badly injured; My right knee was crushed, but luckily I was dragged clear. Although, I never saw my rifle or helmet again.

Between 1030 and 1100 hrs, it was nice to see the sun come through and warm us a little. We had taken some high ground behind the main Salerno road and secured some of our objectives, but in doing so we suffered many casualties both dead, dying and injured. - I don鈥檛 think many units had experienced such action since Dieppe.

A few of the officer casualties that come to mind are Major D.D. Crofts - killed; Captain Stewart and Lieutenant H.R. Smith missing; Lieutenants Brister, White and Phillips lay wounded; Major Cowland-Cooper and Lieutenant Roberts were wounded and had to be quickly evacuated to the Red Cross ships in the Bay. Major Portsmouth, the second in command, was wounded on the beach but remained with his men fighting their way across the main Salerno beach road, they gradually ascended their objective at 2200 hrs that night. I could mention so many others; I had some real good friends, we were only young boys, who I know, missed their mums and dads or their wives.

At the end of the first day of the battle for Salerno, the three Hampshire battalions were holding a front of about six to seven hundred yards. The beach was still being shelled and machine gunned, but we now had a foothold.

At Salerno we were pinned down for 7 days and were told we may have to evacuate. The beachhead was being shelled day and night. Although only 19 years old, I was gradually getting used to the continual bombardment.

On the 12th September, the Germans launched a full scale attack, reinforced by some of their best reserves brought down from Northern Italy. They had orders to push us back into the sea and if they succeeded, they would be given special leave, even a promise to march through Berlin. We had been told that this could well happen and so General Mark Clark sent us all a message saying 鈥淗old them back at all costs.鈥� This we did !

WHITE CROSS HILL:

On the 13th September, saw the start of the fight for 鈥淲hite Cross Hill鈥�. We were advancing when one of our very gallant officers, Major Phillips, was killed, he was much admired and a great leader. The 5th Battalion were trying to take White Cross Hill and one of our Companies was sent to help them. They succeeded after a bitter battle, but were unable to hold the Hill; 鈥淒鈥� Company was unfortunately overrun. Lieutenant W.G. Reed was killed and Lieutenant Lunn, Major Roebuck and CSM Stares were taken prisoner. On the 15th September, we made several counter attacks, but these were unsuccessful. Colonel Chandler was now commanding seven Companies which were continually being counter attacked. Captain Follit of the 5th Battalion was killed during very fierce fighting. A machine gun post was holding us up, so Lieutenant Hillman attacked it but was killed in doing so. Sergeant Minnigen, bravely risked his life to rescue wounded soldiers under very heavy machine gun and mortar fire, he had already been awarded the M.M. in North Africa. On the 20th September, we eventually took command of White Cross Hill, and on the 25th September, we moved around the Sorrento Peninsula and were able to overrun Cava, passing the cemetery on the left, where snipers were in action, by nightfall we had reached San Lucia.

HAMPSHIRE LANE:

After advancing some four or five hundred yards inland, the Hampshires had to pass along a narrow lane. The Germans suddenly attacked with tanks, for which we were unprepared - not expecting tanks to be quite so near, and we were quickly overrun. The Germans drove one tank down the lane between the very narrow walls and ran over our soldiers. One wireless operator had both legs broken and the tank then ran over the dead soldiers. The tank fired one of it鈥檚 shells which killed three of our officers, Captain Kirkup, Company Commander; the Mortar Officer, Lieutenant Sharples and, I believe, Lieutenant Baker, the Signals Officer. In this fierce battle, thirty five other ranks were killed and over three hundred wounded, some being taken prisoner.

INDIVIDUAL INCIDENTS THAT STAND OUT IN MY MEMORY:

A few days had passed-by at Salerno, when I heard a rifle shot very close by and heard someone crying. I crawled across to where the crying was coming from, and there in a trench was a very young boy who had lost his nerve and had decided that to get out of the very fierce fighting he would wound himself. I asked him what had happened, and he pointed to his foot and told me he had fired a rifle bullet through it.

Within minutes, an NCO came over and told me not to tell anyone else that this poor soldier had lost his nerve, because it could upset the morale of the other soldiers. I went back to my position and saw the boy being taken away. There were Hospital Ships in the bay and he would
have been taken back to North Africa.

Some days later, another soldier who had deserted for a short while, was made to stand on a wooden box, and we had to gather round for a few minutes and told that this would happen to us if we deserted. This soldier had all his hair cut off and he was shaking. He had previously fought in the North African campaign. We and others who knew him were convinced that this poor chap was what we called 鈥淏omb Happy鈥�; He was suffering from Shell Shock. He was ill and did not deserve this !

HMS Warspite:

At a time when we were fighting fiercely to hold the bridgehead, the 鈥淕rand Old Lady鈥� the battleship HMS Warspite (who was to become my friend both in war and peace), came in to Salerno Bay, and we all became very exited when she shelled the enemy who were pounding us night and day. But the Germans had a surprise for Warspite; On the 16th September, they sent 3 bombers armed with wireless guided bombs to try to sink her. 2 bombs missed, but one struck her and she was put out of action.

The Warspite struggled with the aid of tugs for 5 days to reach Malta, where she was temporarily repaired and sent to Gibraltar where they made her seaworthy. This enabled her to go to the second front, where she fired over 100 tons of shells.

To read more about my relationship with HMS Warspite , see Part 10.

The Hospital Ship 鈥淣ewfoundland鈥�:

One very sad loss of life was to take place only 4 days after the Salerno landings.

The Hospital Ship 鈥淣ewfoundland鈥� was hit by the Germans and was set on fire. At the time she had 100 nurses on boards and was going to take the casualties at Salerno back to Bizerta in North Africa. Very sadly, 5 of these nurses and all the doctors on the ship were killed. Two
other hospital ships came to help with the survivors, the 鈥淪t. Andrew鈥�, which picked up most of the nurses, and the 鈥淟einster鈥� which already had 450 wounded on board.

The rescued nurses were taken to Salerno and landed under enemy artillery fire, which was a very frightening experience for these poor women to go through. They were in great spirits and we had great admiration for these very brave nurses.

The 鈥淣ewfoundland鈥� was sunk, but I am happy to let people know that there are some very brave ladies who were trying to help soldiers like myself.

Ladies as brave as these should never be forgotten; At the going down of the sun and in the morning WE WILL remember them !

Burying the Dead:

I had become used to seeing dead soldiers, so each time I had to help bury the dead, most being about my own age, it did not affect me in any way. No doubt, if it had been one of my own comrades who fought alongside me, then the feeling would be very different.

One burial I did with Padre Bown, the Battalion Chaplin, was very late in the day, the sun was going down and the sky was an orange red. We were on a mountain side and had two young soldiers to bury. One was quite a lot bigger than me and was hard to drag to the shallow grave I had dug. I eventually laid him to rest, but noted his eyes were still open and while Padre Bown prayed over him, I could not help thinking what his lasts thoughts were. Was it of his family back home or could he have possibly seen Angels in the sky; One will never know ! After putting the second soldier in the shallow grave, which was only a temporary burial, I put their steel helmets over their faces to shield them from the earth and stones. Six barrelled mortars had been dropping in this area a little earlier, so we were eager to leave this part of the hill. The sun was setting behind the mountains and even the land seemed to reflect the red sky, it was so peaceful at that time even though we could still hear some shelling in the area.

Somebody鈥檚 Treasures:

I think the hill was 711, but after 60 years I can鈥檛 be sure. This day we were taking cover on the side of this steep hill, it was like looking up a large stairway, and just in front of us was a rock wall about five feet high. Suddenly, I noticed something white behind these rocks, I took a closer look and more or less had to peep between the stones. I moved one of the stones, I had to be careful because of 鈥淏ooby Traps鈥� which we came across from time to time, I removed another few stones and then realised that some poor person had hidden their few belongings there, wrapped in a bedsheet with a Crucifix on top, hoping that the Lord would protect their possessions.

I gently lifted the white bedsheet and there beneath it were some musical instruments and two small suitcases with a few cooking utensils. There was a small Mandolin, a very pretty Guitar and a Violin in it鈥檚 carrying case. There were also some very nice photographs of the family, some taken in a garden with tables laden with lots of fruit - it could have been a birthday party. My soldier friend and I could see that these items were hidden with a view to being collected later after we had advanced. So, I replaced the items in the same place but concealled them better, in the hope that if these poor people survived, they would retrieve their treasures. This awful war had made this poor family suffer, Why ?

Finally:

I have written these stories to help our younger generations learn about the terrible things that happen when there is a war. I volunteered at the age of 18 and was accepted as a front line Infantryman, and at the age of only 19 served at Salerno. I am now 82 years old and I often sit quietly, when on my own, and think about my old soldier friends who fought alongside me. Some losing their lives, others taken prisoner and some badly wounded.

I wrote the following poem to commemorate the event, entitled:

SALERNO INVASION, ITALY 9TH SEPTEMBER, 1943.

The dead on the beach lie all around
The wounded struggle on the ground

Can someone please tell me why
These brave young men have had to die

My friend lies wounded by my side
My tears for him I have to hide

He鈥檚 badly wounded and in great pain
He won鈥檛 be going home again

So Lord I ask you in this prayer
To take my friend into your care

The happy life that we both had
To end like this is very sad

He is gone to heaven to be with you
His years on earth were very few

Look after him Lord he was my friend
We fought together to the very end

Things happen sometimes that we cannot foresee
My friend lies in peace in Italy

I will always think back and shed a tear
For my friend far away and yet so near

No more fighting will he have to do
From this day on he will be with you !

By: 5513070 Pte Donald Delves,
2nd Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment.

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